£6.50 was a rhythmic contrivance, Harry. A Yorkshireman wouldn't part with that on his wife's Christmas present.

Comment is about LITTLE BASTARDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

My comments on the poem itself were made before Suzi explained the motivation behind it.

The reason (for me) why this deserves to be POTW is because it immediately and simply conveys the desolate feeling of loss. Its not a rapier, its a feather but does more damage than a rapier ever could.

Brilliant weight!

Well done Suzi.

Comment is about 'Justice' by Suzi Challenger is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Bimey John!...£6 - 50! What are you tryin` to do - ruin the entire economy! (£6-50 in Liverpool and they`d think your house was worth `doin``)

Unfriend them, that`s what you should have done..with a huge thwack to the back of each ear...Or get a shark for the pond (I love kids)

Comment is about LITTLE BASTARDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Hi Lewis! Nice to see you again.

Comment is about Lewis da lyricist (poet profile)

Original item by Lewis da lyricist

Nice one M.C.

Comment is about HAM-A-MIA! (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Thank you Tony!!?

Comment is about Surfing (blog)

Original item by Amina Fix

Thanks, all. Your opinions and thoughts are quite valuable to me. And, I just finished the movie..the bluebird scene made me cry just a little.

elP

Comment is about tangent (blog)

Original item by nunya

Thanks, Andy and MC. Fortunately not entirely based on personal experience!

Comment is about LITTLE BASTARDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Next poem...

Turn the lights out on Halloween.
Blood and guts where they should have been
Saved £6.50, avoided a pissy pond
Skipped the doggy doo doo's
avoided all that feral booze
After all, what could I lose?

Nice one John. Enjoyed that.

Comment is about LITTLE BASTARDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Another witty ditty from the master - with, perhaps, the
uneasy feeling that this might have some basis in personal experience!

Comment is about LITTLE BASTARDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

LtB, CH and RC...thanks for taking the trouble to comment.
To paraphrase Mr Davies -
What is this life so full of care
We cannot find some fun to share.

Comment is about HAM-A-MIA! (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Andy,
Ah church!...this reminded me of the time my mate Alec felt a mouse in the lining of his jacket in church (and thought the devil was `getting` at him.

And later passing the same devastated St Bridgids church (with fatalities) to traipse through the debris to the window-shattered St Josephs with it`s glass strewn floors for Sunday Mass.

Thinking of the probable fate of later German churches makes be ponder on the `all in togetherness` of this kind of stuff.

Your invisible symphonically balletic dance of the squeaky mice is fine piece of boyhood imagination (but how did Paddington get mixed up with the mice?)

And if you think Dickie Davies was cutting it fine m.o.t.d.
repeat is unearthly for us Saturday night missers.

Mind, the family Mass today was a bit of a happy clappy wake up and celebrate do. ?

(I like the way you`ve poetically `got` the furniture of the church)

Comment is about Church (blog)

Original item by Andy Smyth

Commendable account and straight to a point powerfully; I had a schoolfriend who died in a car taking a bend. Sad to say it seemed a fitting conclusion to a life so distorted that he was destined to a bad end. I was his friend though.....

Ray

Comment is about CHRISTIAN JAMES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Unmistakeably your work elP. These internal journeys always take us into deep spirals or unplumbed depths and don't necessarily need a summary but like strange plants they capture our imaginations.

Excellent. Ray

Comment is about tangent (blog)

Original item by nunya

how excellent and, for me, i can only see the film k-pax when i read it. quite brilliant, its wonderful to have something so brief that fills the brain which such vivid, philosophical ideas

Comment is about tangent (blog)

Original item by nunya

Good one bro

Comment is about Raymond Blaze (poet profile)

Original item by Raymond Blaze

Thanks Suki for spotting the pseudo Shakespeare line .

Thanks Martin, those old memories ! Mind over matter I reckon.

Thanks Colin, sometimes the rhyming just pops into my head! Must be a first I suppose.

Thanks Tony. A pleasure.

Comment is about JU JITSU (blog)

Original item by ray pool

to add to Mr Spangles comment - large / fuselage is a great paring. Nice one Ray.

Comment is about JU JITSU (blog)

Original item by ray pool

..remarkable repetition of sounds in this--I hear them as I read it. There is a certain "adagio" tempo that retains this quality of lament that you mention.

The action is all in the rests.

elP

Comment is about The Silent Instrumental (blog)

Original item by Green

A lovely little story Ray. Actually knew of a young chap who was small and weedy therefore got bullied at school until one summer holiday he started weight lifting under by the time term restarted he had bulked out so much no one ever bullied him again.
A great poem Ray

Comment is about JU JITSU (blog)

Original item by ray pool

top marks for chuckle value Mr. Newberry!




Rose.

Comment is about HAM-A-MIA! (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Love the sense of humour!

Comment is about HAM-A-MIA! (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

It is not true, thankfully. Although I suspect there are many stories like it. Thanks for the feedback!

Comment is about Mercy of the Streets (blog)

Original item by Claire

"There's no money in poetry, and no poetry in money", according to Robert Graves. But there are several poets eking out a living from it (I think Simon Armitage is keeping his head above water, and Roger McGough's fees for an evening gig was £2000 when we tried to book him for Wigan about five years ago). There are lots of poets who have developed from the open-mic circuit and doing what they love, though many also run courses in schools, prisons, etc. Taking in washing, we used to call it. Ms Duffy, Mr Motion and the like take day-jobs in universities to pay their wine merchant bills. Larkin was a librarian first poet second, wasn't he?
Attila is an admirable example of someone who believes in what he does and works hard to put himself out there (book him if you need a cracking guest poet) though also has his stockbroking to fall back on, of course.

Comment is about Can poetry pay? Panel of experts offer their advice at Society of Authors event (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

A bleak but powerful poem. I like "...she only needed one to hold."
Is it a true story?

Comment is about Mercy of the Streets (blog)

Original item by Claire

They're both excellent artists, Judy. I only wish I'd been there to see them too.

Comment is about Hollie McNish, Salena Godden, Manchester, 2016 (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

what's new! - most of your poems are pretty epic Mr Spangles, both in their breadth and scope and wordiness.

I'm leaving this comment without having read one single Spangly word so no idea where it stands on the epic scale.

I'm saving the first read for tonight when I have to sit through the torture of almost 2 hours of Strictly Come Dancing at my mum's in Worthing (volume up / audience clapping and cheering like idiots / mother falling asleep) ?

Comment is about Bleeding-Edge Prophet (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Love the rhyme youth/forsooth! Great little story nicely told. Thanks for sharing.

Comment is about JU JITSU (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Tom, Stu,Tony, Mark, Suki and Martin : I thought I had answered all your valued comments, but the computer had to be de - loused and I think that may have been wiped, God knows. Anyway, thanks so much all of you. This may be late, I'm afraid but I've been offline.

Tony, the light bulb sequence - a real gem.

Ray

Comment is about RECIPE FOR POLITICS ! (blog)

Original item by ray pool

D

The Fri 11th Nov meeting will be from 12 noon until 1pm.

The 16th Nov Creative Meeting will be from 1.30pm - 3.30pm.

Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)

Original item by Stockport WoL

I like the style and how it is not separated into stanzas. I think this probably explains every high schoolers life.

Comment is about who do you see (blog)

Original item by amberlee2000

this is how I like to write sometimes. Made me smile. Thank you

Comment is about King of the Car (blog)

Original item by Anonymous Please

I love this poem!!!. I can relate as well????

Comment is about who do you see (blog)

Original item by amberlee2000

That's great, Becky!

Comment is about A Beautiful Man (blog)

Original item by Becky Sowray

I recommend you download loudmouth Jimmy's work. It's well worth it.

Comment is about Jimmy Andrex breaks cover (blog)

Original item by Jimmy Andrex

John, what can I say? Well done, well deserved, and we at Stockport WOL are blessed with you/proud of you - Dorinda

Comment is about 'Mature Student' by JF Keane is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

All the things in this poem represent actual people in my life. The dancer, the autumn and the willow tree. I wrote this a couple weeks ago before I had an account on this website, and to be honest, I was very sad then, and I have no clue what was going through my head at that point.

Comment is about Autumn (blog)

Original item by Anonymous Please

You need to be sitting where I am now Andy, eating my sandwiches looking along one of Harrogate's tree-lined residential streets. Copper, ruby, gold, bronze, emerald - the vista is ablaze with the resplendence of decay! I'll get around to writing a poem about it one year...

Comment is about Why Do Poets Like Autumn? (blog)

Original item by Andy Humphrey

Thanks for your kind comments, Adriana.

Comment is about UNFRIEND (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

This little piece keeps coming to mind when I least expect it..it reminded me of a movie--Demolition with Jake Gyllenhaal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnSXelOJo0

you may not be interested at all, I just find the reaction you describe here fascinating.

elP

Comment is about That Inevitable Question (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

"There is little else of interest about him," but he rounds off a plug to his excellent new EP with a clever reworking of a quote from Yeats. Methinks he doth protest too much.

Comment is about Jimmy Andrex breaks cover (blog)

Original item by Jimmy Andrex

Thankyou for your kind offer, Colin, but it was the ladies I was angling for.

Comment is about UNFRIEND (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting i am pleased that it evoked such positive memories for you Trevor.
I know what you mean about having your taste buds getting stirred up Rose , you can't beat seaside fish and chips
Colin your response is a poem in it's own right, fab Thanks for the links. I have looked at the first one and it stirred up so many memories. thank goodness the lanes are still there. The seven stars I can remember going in to where there were go go dancers
and the journey round Brighton along the seafront featuring what I remember as the palace pier and the good old west pier before it was burnt to the skeleton it is now.
I also saw the marina under construction in the film. That must have been taken whilst I was working there. there were three contracts and I worked on the approach roads. lastly the other part that stood out for me was were the old Lyons corner house had been next to the regent cinema across from the clock tower that became virgin records, many an hour spent in there!
Cheers mate

Cynthia sorry to have missed you Tuesday but it is a difficult day for me now. Ian and I keep missing each other, I will try and catch him at Wigan soon! glad you liked the poem thanks for reading

Thanks again everybody including Andy and Tony , much appreciated by your encouragement

Martin

Comment is about Wimpy bar days (blog)

Original item by Martin Elder

Loved this.
I hope there aren't many stranger than me.
LOL.

Great poem Trevor.

Comment is about People Are Strange (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Rick, I'm so with Martin- absolutely delightful, from start to finish - so full of splendid detail expertly finessed - a feast of superb words to make a gripping story, spiced with worldly philosophy.

When I attended a Moroccan market in England, my husband was aghast when I bargained with the bearded seller for some small pottery dishes. My husband was so embarrassed he moved away to the next stall, but the pottery vendor grinned hugely, and accepted my offer with a bow. I use these little dishes regularly, and often think of that 'Middle Eastern moment in a Manchester market'.

Comment is about "Fit for An Angel" (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

Yes, it can. But you have to treat it like rock n roll ?

Comment is about Can poetry pay? Panel of experts offer their advice at Society of Authors event (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Best of luck! And if you are around in London go and see Laura. She is ace ?

Comment is about Laura Taylor takes her hard-hitting poetry performance to London (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks, Trevor, But me! A cynic? Actually, I'm not, I'm really not, although that finger has been pointed before. A realist, I could live with.

Posturers and posers annoy me. I'm very sympathetic with those who are going through 'phases' as a learning or adjusting process related to growing up, or to personal problems unique to them. But toward a mode of life carried on deliberately, in adequately good mental health, I'm very cold-hearted. IMO, a person is always the basic product of childhood experiences which can never quite be reconstructed towards a preferred result. We do but try.

Comment is about Never trust a lover who ... (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Thanks for the ethical chocolate-buying tips, Colin, much appreciated. I used to buy Divine from our tea trolley back in the day - trouble is, I link that memory with the traumatic one of inadvertently flinging a cop of coffee through the vent of a very expensive computer. It sizzled for a bit, smoke started coming out, and then it went bang. Heads turned up and down the office. If they'd taken it out of my wages I'd still be paying for it now.

And thanks for your donation commitment to Write Out Loud, too. Very good of you, mate.

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

i like this

Comment is about Killer (blog)

Original item by B D